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Step 3The concept
In hydroponics, it is all about getting the nutrient rich water to your plant's roots, while making sure there is enough oxygen in the water so they don't drown.
NFT
Here we are building an NFT (Nutrient film technique) system using PVC pipes.
The basic idea is that we want a small, but constant flow of water that the plant's roots can sit in.
The water contains all the nutrients the plants want, and the constant flow means there is plenty of oxygen in the water.
The plants need something to support them though, seeing we won't have dirt to hold them up, this is where hydroponic mediums come in.
I have three that I have been working with, perlite, vermiculite and expanded clay balls.
These will give the plants support, and a small buffer to hold water.
Now, we don't want these being washed away, so we will be putting them in little plastic cups, and let the roots grow out small holes into the stream of water.
NFT
Here we are building an NFT (Nutrient film technique) system using PVC pipes.
The basic idea is that we want a small, but constant flow of water that the plant's roots can sit in.
The water contains all the nutrients the plants want, and the constant flow means there is plenty of oxygen in the water.
The plants need something to support them though, seeing we won't have dirt to hold them up, this is where hydroponic mediums come in.
I have three that I have been working with, perlite, vermiculite and expanded clay balls.
These will give the plants support, and a small buffer to hold water.
Now, we don't want these being washed away, so we will be putting them in little plastic cups, and let the roots grow out small holes into the stream of water.
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I found the nutrients at a local hardware store (bunnings).
The prices on ebay aren't always the best but it is a convenient place to start looking.
From there try googling for an online shop near you that caters to hydroponics
The ebay store I bought from was:
http://stores.ebay.com.au/HYDRO-MASTA
http://www.hydromasta.com.au/
But they are an Australian company, so I don't know if that is helpful for you!
Thanks for the 5 stars too :)
The perlite started growing a green mould after a few months.
You could fix that by covering the top of the container with a thick black plastic though.